Coliseum

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not reflect Shoryuken.com as a whole.

Kenneth “K-Brad” Bradley of Evil Geniuses has had a solid year to date, despite a rocky initial relationship with Street Fighter V. This is without question one of the strongest years in his career. His Cammy is looking good, and he is continually improving.

With his entry into Capcom Cup being due to Misterio’s sudden withdrawal, will he be able to be the Rocky Balboa of the finale and shock the world?

Killer Bee

If there’s one thing to note about K-Brad’s Cammy, it’s how utterly aggressive it is. As opposed to Qanba Douyu|Xiaohai and GGP|Kazunoko who play a more balanced, reactionary-style play at times, what you’re likely to see from K-Brad is keeping the noose tightened on his opponents, and then pulling on the rope.

He was one of the first to address how Cammy has become less mix-up-dependent in this iteration of Street Fighter, and he has adjusted his play to compensate. While his play is far more straightforward, his basic gameplan of just smothering his opponents hasn’t changed. It has worked to his advantage more often than not.

Changing Gears

But that style of play can also be to his detriment. Once players start playing more patiently against him, K-Brad, much like HM|Eita, gets himself into trouble. He continues pushing, and he ends up hanging himself.

He’s very comfortable on offense. He isn’t as comfortable on defense. He’s always had the most success in games where it has paid to be an aggressor. He played Marvel, then played Cammy in the SFIV series, both of which requires absolute aggression to stay on top.

This isn’t working in this new game, and he hasn’t fully realized the defensive side of his game. Once he rounds himself out and becomes more at ease playing the reactionary game, his results will improve.

When it Counts

Because of these issues, K-Brad has faltered in some of the biggest events on the circuit. In some of the most stacked brackets, he hasn’t even finished within Top 16. He wasn’t able to breach top 32 at either Japan Cup or EGX. He finished 25 at Brooklyn Beatdown. These were tournaments where killers showed up, and he just wasn’t able to prove his mettle against them.

While he’s been doing performing well at events such as SoCal Regionals and Canada Cup, the tale of the tape show him losing to Liquid|NuckleDu and YouDeal MJS|Haitani at the former and OR|Nuki and NuckleDu at the latter. Losing to someone as strong as NuckleDu may seem a petty complaint, but it reflects that K-Brad isn’t showing the progression he needs to hang around at Anaheim without losing.

Final Thoughts

K-Brad is still in the midst of a learning curve. His Cammy’s offense is on point. His Cammy’s defense is not there yet. He’s still not on the level of the true killers that are going to be at Capcom Cup.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see him take a match off an unsuspecting victim, but would lean more toward 0-2 at the event. This will be a learning experience for Bradley, and I hope he soaks it all in and makes his adjustments for next season. Don’t underestimate him this time around though, because if everything goes to plan, he can certainly blow some top competitors away.

For eons, Melee players have tried to find the ultimate controller. It started with carving notches into the ridge around the control stick for perfect shield drops. It then progressed to the Smash Box and its ability to make advanced movement tech a breeze to input. Now, Heeew may have discovered the true future of playing Melee; using the humble computer mouse.

If you haven’t quite caught on yet, trying to play Melee with your computer mouse is an awful idea. Heeew previously tried to play with a keyboard and that was difficult enough, so imagine how hard it is just to recover by dragging your mouse around to move. While dashdancing becomes super easy, even basic actions like up-tilting and angling your Up-B correctly become nigh-on impossible. It may not be the future of Melee input methods, but it certainly makes for a humorous video. Don’t expect a wave of players bringing the Mario Paint mouse to tournament any time soon.

Source: Heeew